Participants lined up along North Capitol Avenue, anxious to begin the race.
Human development senior Naomi Oxendine prepared for her first color race beside the starting line. She found out about The Color Run from her friends.
“I’m actually training for a marathon, so I do runs every week to keep up with my training,” Oxendine said.
In the past, Oxendine survived the Tough Mudder, which is a 10- to 12-mile-long, military-style obstacle course.
“I’ve never done a fun race, so I’m looking forward to this one,” she said.
Sandy Hinz is the parent of an MSU student and volunteered for The Color Run for the first time at one of the tents during the event. Hinz said the proceeds from this race will go toward the Sparrow Regional Children’s Center and Kelleigh’s Cause, a charity dedicated to finding a specific protein that causes the disorder known as Arteriovenous malformations, or AVM.
The charity is named after Kelleigh Gustafson, a teen with the disorder.
Sparrow Regional Children’s Center Medical Director Dr. Stephen Guertin, said the medical condition causes tangling of blood vessels.
Since a cure for the condition hasn’t been found, Dr. Guertin said the proceeds from the race will go toward research.
“He (Guertin) has been very instrumental in taking care of her,” Gustafson’s mom, Lori Gustafson said.
She added that Kelleigh wanted to share the proceeds with Dr. Guertin and the Sparrow Regional Children’s Center because of all he has done for her. Gustafson said she was overwhelmed with gratitude for all the support from The Color Run.
“It’s fantastic,” Gustafson said. “It’s amazing to know that everyone is behind me.”
Following the race, Sparrow Hospital nurse Dexter Baker cooled off after wearing a white morphsuit, or full-body spandex onesie. Baker wanted to get a lot of color on himself during the race and he thought wearing a white morphsuit was the best idea to get the most color.
This was Baker’s first 5k race. Baker added that he enjoyed The Color Run because it’s for a good cause and it’s a good time.
“I think it’s awesome,” Baker said. “I would do it again.”
